Protective Barrier

"No no no no….. I am not going to listen to anything." Ryan roared inside their dorm room.

His brothers stared at him with zero interest. They let him vent out his frustration before saying or trying to stop him.

Kaden had gone out for a breather. The two elders and Ryan's twin were left alone with a raging Ryan. Even though they wanted to let him do it according to what he wanted, it was not their home; rather, they lived in a dorm.

Sylius slumped on his bed, "Why are you overreacting? What's the big deal?"

The hand punching the pillow halted as Ryan comprehended his twin's words. He lifted his eyes from the poor pillow who had to sacrifice itself to his Sylius.

Sylius offered him a full grin showing off his perfectly aligned teeth. Their shining reflection burnt Ryan's eyes. If there was any other person at his place he would have peed in his pants when he had to withstand Ryan's scorching and indignant gaze.

Being his twin, Sylius was aware of Ryan better than others. They had a complicated brotherhood. They openly showed their dislike to each yet they would be the first to know if anything ever happened to the other. This might be because both were the stark opposite of each other.

Sylius was the bubbly and extrovert guy whereas Ryan would be a closed-off and peace-loving guy. Sylius loved to meet strangers and make friends while Ryan was too indulged in his small bubble of reality that it was extremely impossible work for him to make new friends.

The ladies man would be Sylius since he liked to fool around. Ryan detested the fairer sex company so much that the only females around him were his mother and family members.

Due to all of this, now when in University he had to pair up with a girl for their project he felt awkward and apprehensive. Ryan wondered why he had to do his part of the project alongside a girl. On top of it, the girl was not normal. Instead, she was the exact type of girl Ryan ignored like a plague.

Lucas patted his side, "Take a seat. You need to cool down and tell us what exactly happened to enrage you to this extent? Since after having our lunch in the canteen, you have been acting a little off."

Ryan padded over to Lucas and plopped next to him. He was exhausted. He closed his eyes and inhaled deep breaths. It extinguished the burning flames to an extent though not entirely put it off. He knew it would take time.

Aiden seated himself on the bed in front of Ryan. He saw how tired and worn out his brother appeared to be.

"You don't want to work with Sarah?"

Ryan's eyes fluttered open as he heard his eldest brother asking his judgment regarding Sarah, his co-partner for their Egypt case study.

He slowly raised his head and began to ogle at the ceiling as his brain reminisced the events of the canteen today. A silly smile broke out on his face. He didn't recognise but he was smiling all the time as he recalled how Sarah tried to have his attention. Initially, he was annoyed by her, however, her crazy and not funny jokes did make him laugh yet he kept it within himself.

_____________

Lucas glanced at the girls, "I hope you girls won't find it rude."

Iris patted his shoulder and flashed him a smile, indicating that he should continue whatever he was about to say.

Iris's pats and her smile gave him the motivation, "Since you girls have not decided about your project partners, I would like to ask if we, me and my other four brothers can join your group and work on this project together?"

The table was a pin-drop hush. Lucas felt like he somehow had said something which he shouldn't have. He understood the responses of his twin younger brothers. He saw their acknowledgements from the peripheral view of his eyes, Ryan was viciously glaring at him while Sylius grinned at him with appreciation.

Then his gaze moved to Aiden, giving him a soft nod. Lastly, he subtly gaped at Kaden, their younger brother who was currently busy looking at the girl on his left.

Seeing him like that, Lucas felt he saw a doppelganger of him, not his real brother.

After waiting for five minutes, he was not rewarded with an answer so he produced his sound as if clearing his throat, "So? Are you girls willing to work with us? I can promise we will give our best and along with it, I am sure if there's any prize, in the end, it will be ours."

Aza raised her eyebrows at Lucas's confidence which in her eyes was nothing more than overconfidence. She wanted to argue with him but the dragon staring at her didn't let her do anything.

'Ugh...This guy…..He reminds me of the guy and his group who we have accidentally bumped into in the parking lot.'

Unconsciously, Aza had started to chew her lips. This didn't go unnoticed by the guy whose full attention was on her.

Certainly, it was tough for Kaden to control his carnal desire of kissing Aza. He clenched and unclenched his fists with the hope of removing the images his brain was trying to depict.

____________

The moment Sarah's gaze had caught sight of Ryan. She could not drive them away from him.

Hence, when she saw him walking over to their table with his brothers, determined to make him sit beside her. Her plan succeeded and here she is, gawking at him without acting discreetly.

As Sarah used to believe that there was nothing to hide when you have feelings for some guy. She had the firm opinion that one should not be afraid to accept their feelings and wholeheartedly act on them but there should be a limit.

Their confession must not make the other party embarrassed or humiliated.

Sarah's heart did the somersaults when her eyes clashed with Ryan for the first time and she fathomed how her university life won't be black and white films anymore. It would be an HD display of colours.

Sarah had seen the scepticism in Ryan's eyes and actions. She could feel a protective barrier surrounding himself wholly, not his heart alone.

It made her wonder why he has his guards high up even when she didn't mean any harm. It puzzled her.

She poked him first, she was ignored. She thought she would keep doing this till he got fed up with it and snapped at her but when she heard him talk to his brother and ask if he could exchange seats with him. She stopped her poke game.

"Sylius, mind exchanging seats with me?"

Ryan invited his twin brother however, his twin glanced at him and disregarded his plea. He gritted his teeth when he understood that Sylius did that on purpose.

Ryan thought he would have to endure Sarah's relentless poking for the whole time but he was shockingly astounded at Sarah as she quitted her poking. Therefore, he turned towards her and stared at her mindlessly playing with her food, not eating it.